Portfolio 6- how engineering can contribute to improve our life

Many advancements in the world, no matter if it is technological, social or in any other areas, are resulted from the input of many great scientists, engineers, writers, musicians and many other professions that contribute a lot into the areas they are specializing in. Just to take a few examples, in science, we have Newton whose discovery of gravitation opens up a large field of study in Physics that ultimately led to a better understanding of how our world works. In literature, Shakespeare’s stories became an important art of study for any interested in the area. Many things we saw in the modern world are results of all these great minds.

However, like the saying “great things don’t come often”, such great men are hard to come about and not all will have the opportunity to land themselves in the right place and time to contribute as much as Newton or Shakespeare do. The only thing we seem to be able to do is to maximize everyone’s opportunity in term of education so as to create the best situation for people with the factors of great man to unleash their potential. This may be the best method in the 20th century but recent advancement in technology had created a new frontier to achieve what may be impossible in the past- to create these men from a normal human. Known as genetic engineering, by altering the DNA structure in the brain in the smallest of amount, we are able to create someone with the intelligent of Einstein or the battle skills of Napoleon.

Genetic engineering has many other uses other than being a platform to create breakthrough in many fields. Firstly, genetic engineering can alter our cells to ensure they operate in the maximum possible effectiveness. This will not only create stronger humans but also prevent diseases and illness that often resulted from the undesired respond our cells from external influence. Secondly, genetic engineering not only can make men better but only reduce the undesired traits and character in men. Many scientists believed that criminal behaviors often resulted from certain parts of the brain. By altering our DNA, we can remove the genes responsible for such behaviors.

Despite the positive effects, genetic engineering remains expensive to develop and may be even more expensive to use. This brings us to one possible concern the society might face if should such technology be surfaced to be available to the public. This usage will only be available to the richer population of the world, up to the point of even only about 1-2% of the world’s population. Using such technology to improve their body will only make them even more superior to the rest of the population. The increased difference in abilities will allow these people, tapping on their new found abilities, to become even richer. This led to a vicious cycle that may further separate these people with the rest of the whole world until the state that the two cannot remain as one single species. That may be the time where the ideas of “superhuman” which only exist in science friction come true. This may not be an ideal world to live in, especially for those who cannot afford to go through genetic engineering.

Because of the many moral issues that surround genetic engineering, together with the negative consequences it might bring about, developing the technology and justifying for it will be tough job for the scientists and engineers.